‘Do Unto Others’ makes an unconvincing case for euthanasia

Editor’s note: The following article includes spoilers for “Do Unto Others”

Caregivers who kill their charges, from the mentally disabled to the terminally ill, have long made headlines in Japan. The public reaction typically ranges from outrage to sympathy, particularly the latter when the killers are elderly, ailing and bearing the burden of care alone. The problem is hardly limited to Japan, but legal, cultural and demographic factors have made it more severe here than in certain other economically advanced countries.

Based on a 2013 novel by Aki Hamanaka, Tetsu Maeda’s “Do Unto Others” begins as whodunit entertainment but segues midway to a lugubrious tearjerker that addresses the issue of elder care with an emotionalism that feels at odds with reality — and ordinary morality.

Mass killers of the helpless may be on a deranged crusade to rid society of undesirables or cold-bloodedly schedule deaths for their own convenience, but few, if any, turn out to be noble and admirable. That, however, is how the film frames its protagonist, who supplies his aged clients with eternal rest.

Working from a script he co-wrote, Maeda presents the film’s first-act mystery with skillfully calibrated tension. We are initially introduced to a trio of caregivers working for the Yaga Care Center: the eager newcomer Yuki Adachi (Natsu Kato); the earthy veteran Mariko Inoguchi (Rie Minemura); and the dedicated but enigmatic Munenori Shiba (Kenichi Matsuyama).

Then their hard-drinking, heavily indebted boss (Hajime Inoue) turns up dead in the home of one of their clients, who is also a corpse when the cops arrive. The tough-minded prosecutor, Hidemi Otomo (Masami Nagasawa), suspects Munenori when a surveillance video shows him near the scene soon after both men died. But what motive could this secular saint who puts the needs of his clients and their families ahead of his own possibly have for killing anyone?

When Munenori confesses to accidentally offing his boss after catching him stealing from the client, Hidemi is still left wondering how the latter died. Further investigation and another confession reveal a disturbing fact: Munenori, by his own description, “saved” 42 people from the “misery” of clinging to life, though only 41 were Yaga clients. Who was number 42?

The film’s second half reveals Munenori’s past as the overburdened caregiver to his severely disabled father (Akira Emoto). We also learn about Hidemi’s guilt-ridden relationship with her dementia-afflicted mother (Yumiko Fujita), who now lives in an upscale assisted-living facility where her career-minded daughter, as the film implies, heartlessly dumped her.

Along the way, “Do Unto Others” makes an impassioned case for euthanasia, though I would have preferred to hear more from the survivors and victims rather than the mass murderer who articulates the film’s message. On trial for his life, Munenori is more eloquent than Hidemi, who recites by-the-book counterarguments with little conviction. In the overwrought climax, she confesses to Munenori her own sins as a caregiver, ending in tears for everyone.

The film’s English title is taken from Matthew 7:12: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” But was Jesus thinking of mercy killings when he first proclaimed the golden rule? There’s room for debate, as well as reasons for treating caregivers who kill their charges with compassion rather than lengthy jail sentences. But Munenori, with his poison-filled syringe and self-appointed role as judge, jury and “savior,” is a strange, twisted choice for moral arbiter.